Cross-country shines at regionals

The Buffs cross-country team stampeded to victory at the NCAA Mountain Region Championship on Saturday.

At the East Bay Golf Course in Provo, Utah, the No. 3 women’s team earned 84 points to tie No. 19 New Mexico for first place.

Sophomore Shalaya Kipp led the Colorado women for the fourth time this season, finishing the 6k course in 20 minutes, 59.7 seconds for fourth place overall. Senior teammate Emma Coburn was neck-in-neck with Kipp at the finish, earning fifth overall with a time of 21:00.00. Both women were less than 25 seconds behind the winner, UTEP’s Risper Kimaiyo (20:35.2).

Sophomore Camille Logan and senior Katie Cumming also ran well for CU, earning 19th and 27th, respectively (21:36.0 and 21:51.8). The final Buffs final scorer junior Lara Darco, came in 29th with a time of 21:59.2.

Shalaya Kipp, a junior integrative physiology major, at the beginning of the 2011 CU Alumni/Open/Time Trial cross country event on Sept. 3 at the CU Buffalo Ranch course. After the season opening race Kipp said she was very excited about the year, both men's and women's teams won the Pac-12 Championship in Tempe. (Robert R. Denton/CU Independent)

The win granted the women an automatic spot at the NCAA Championship on Nov. 21 in Terre Haute, Ind.

The men’s team gained a spot at nationals also with a second-place finish. The Buffs recorded 43 points, six points behind first-place No. 3 BYU.

Senior Richard Medina came in sixth overall in the 10k race, crossing the line in 30:36.7. Senior Andy Wacker was just behind him, finishing seventh with a time of 30:37.9. Both runners were less than 30 seconds behind the winner, BYU’s Miles Batty (30:09.3).

Senior Christian Thompson and junior Martin Medina were the third and fourth CU runners, finishing just 1.8 seconds apart to earn 12th and 13th place respectively (30:50.8 and 31:01.6). Freshman Ammar Moussa rounded out the team score, earning 17th overall in 31:07.3. Moussa recorded the fastest time for a freshman in the race.

In addition to scoring for the team, several runners earned individual all-region honors. The top 25 finishers in each race are awarded this honor. Kipp, Coburn and Logan on the women’s side and Richard Medina, Wacker, Thompson, Martin Medina and Moussa on the men’s side all received recognition.

“The goal of this meet is always to get through to nationals and the second goal is to get through in the top two spots,” said head coach Mark Wetmore in a news release. “We got what we needed today and we are ready to get back to work.”

The Buffs have nine days to recover and get race-ready again before heading to Terre Haute, Ind for the NCAA Cross Country Championships. The meet is Nov. 21 at the La Vern Gibson Cross Country Course.